2/14/2006 @ 12:00PM

The Financier: Carl Lindner

After dropping out of school at 14, Carl Lindner worked as a milk delivery boy for his family’s dairy during the Great Depression. The ice cream shop he opened with two brothers in 1940 eventually grew into the United Dairy Farmers chain, and he is now among the world’s richest people. With his three sons, Lindner controls roughly 42% of the American Financial Group. At 87, he has no plans to retire.